This invention relates to apparatus for measuring and brewing an individual portion size quantity of coffee having a small layer of foam and bubbles on the upper surface of the brewed coffee.
Ordinarily, the prior art apparatus for brewing coffee capable of also producing a small foam and bubble layer has required the use of prepackaged coffee pads. Such prepackaged coffee pads are not wholly satisfactory because they are much more expensive than ground coffee purchased in bulk, bags, cans or jars. In addition such prepackaged coffee pads are not as readily available in many marketing channels as coffee purchased in bulk, bags, cans or jars.
The prior art includes a wide variety of drip coffeemakers, percolators, vacuum coffeemakers and espresso makers. The present apparatus may include or cooperate with a discrete steam/hot water generating apparatus. More generally, the present apparatus is intended to be locked in sealed fluid engagement with the steam or hot water making machine and retained in the machine with an inlet thereof in communication with the machine outlet during the coffee brewing procedure.
An object of the invention is to provide new and improved apparatus that will brew an individual portion of coffee for a user and which is constructed in a manner that allows multiple users each having their own spoon shaped coffee brewing apparatus sequentially in a coffee making machine to brew their respective portions of coffee.
A further object of the present invention is to provide new and improved apparatus that will facilitate both the measuring of the desired quantity of ground coffee required to brew an individual portion as well as the actual brewing process.
Still another object of the invention is to provide brewing apparatus that reduces the time and effort required to clean the apparatus.
Yet another object of the invention is to eliminate the necessity for providing the spoon to measure coffee and the necessity for cleaning such a spoon.
A further object of the invention is to provide brewing apparatus that does not require prepackaged coffee pads and thus avoids the expense of such pads as well as the inconvenience involved in procuring such pads.
It has now been found that these and other objects of the invention may be attained in apparatus for measuring ground coffee, brewing coffee and producing a foam layer on the brewed coffee that includes an elongated handle and a bowl shaped housing fixed to one axial extremity of the handle. The housing has an open top and an open bottom. A cover is dimensioned and configured for sealing engagement with the open top. The cover is movable between a position that covers the open top and a second position in which the cover does not cover the open top. A porous mesh is dimensioned and configured for sealing engagement with the open bottom. A plate is dimensioned and configured for sealing engagement with the porous mesh and the plate has an aperture therein dimensioned and configured to control the pressure and velocity of coffee to thereby generate a foam on the coffee brewed by the apparatus. A lower housing is dimensioned and configured for sealing engagement with the plate. The lower housing has at least one aperture for directing the flow of brewed coffee to an associated cup.
In some forms of the invention the plate includes a plurality of domes. The lower housing may include a plurality of upstanding tabs. Some embodiments of the invention may include a plurality of upstanding tabs disposed in a first plane and another plurality of upstanding tabs disposed in a second plane. The first and second planes may be parallel and laterally spaced. The cover is supported by a hinge in some embodiments and the hinge may have an axis that is substantially perpendicular to the elongated handle.
In some forms of the invention the cover includes a porous mesh and a peripheral seal dimensioned and configured for cooperation with apparatus for producing hot liquid water and steam.
The porous mesh and the peripheral seal may be insert molded together and the brewing apparatus may further include apparatus for generating hot water and steam that is dimensioned and configured for sealing engagement with the cover and a clamp structure that applies a clamping force to the lower housing and to the cover. The clamp structure may include a J-shaped hook and a pivotally mounted elongated latch handle cooperating with the J-shaped hook. In some cases the elongated latch handle and the J-shaped hook are pivotally connected and the elongated latch handle is pivotally connected to a housing.